For the first time since Feb. 11, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have Matt Frattin in the lineup on Saturday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Frattin had seven goals and 10 points in 10 games this season before re-injuring his left knee and undergoing a procedure to clean up some damaged cartilage in his medial collateral ligament.
Matt Frattin says he’s ready to go, will likely be on a line with Kadri and MacArthur tonight.
— David Alter (@DavidAlter590) March 9, 2013
The Maple Leafs are going with James Reimer in net tonight.
James Reimer in goal tonight for #Leafs
— David Alter (@DavidAlter590) March 9, 2013
James Reimer has a record of 9-3-0 in 13 appearances so far this season with a .921 save percentage.
The Morweena, MB., native has won his last six starts since a Feb. 7 victory in Winnipeg and was in net when the Leafs spoiled the Penguins home opener back on Jan. 23.
The Pittsburgh Penguins may be catching the Toronto Maple Leafs (15-10-0) at an opportune time. Toronto had a three-game winning streak snapped in a 4-2 loss at Boston on Thursday and has given up four goals or more in four of its last five games.
Nazem Kadri, however, has kept the Leafs’ offense clicking at a high level. He enters this contest with six goals over a four-game scoring streak.
“It’s about good habits,” said Clarke MacArthur, who assisted on Kadri’s goal against the Bruins. “We can take a lot of good things out of the game. Obviously those two points would have been huge for us, but we have to take the good positive things we did and take that into Pittsburgh.”
James van Riemsdyk led the way with two goals and an assist in the first meeting, while Nikolai Kulemin added three assists.
The Maple Leafs enter this contest having scored nine times in their last two home games. They’ve won five of six in Toronto after losing four of five there to open the season.
Even though he was pulled after allowing four first-period goals on Thursday, Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to be back between the pipes on Saturday.
Fleury is 11-5-0 with a 2.64 GAA on the season, but he’s 1-1-0 with a 4.78 GAA in his last three starts. He also has a 4.09 GAA in his last four starts in this series after allowing five goals on 24 shots in January’s loss.
Toronto seeks its fourth straight home victory against the Penguins.
With Chris Kunitz enjoying a hot streak, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ highly ranked offense has soared to another level lately.
#Pens vs. #Leafs: Chris Kunitz has 13-14-27 in 17 GP since February 2. Nazem Kadri has 6-5-11 on this seven-game point streak.
— Chris Nichols (@Nichols_NHLPool) March 9, 2013
The red-hot Penguins look to keep things rolling and win their fourth straight game on Saturday night when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kunitz extended his point streak to a career-high seven games with the go-ahead goal in the third period of a 5-4 victory at Philadelphia on Thursday. The Penguins’ winger finished with two goals and an assist, giving him seven and three, respectively, while scoring in five straight contests.
“The puck seems to be going in the net,” Kunitz told the team’s official website. “Hopefully, it keeps going.”
Kunitz has points in 15 of his last 17 contests and ranks among the league leaders in both points (31) and goals (14). However, he hasn’t produced a point in any of his last four games against the Maple Leafs – including a 5-2 home defeat on Jan. 23.
Sidney Crosby, who leads the league with 39 points, has 10 goals during a seven-game scoring streak in this series following his tally in the first meeting.
While they’ve been one of the NHL’s highest-scoring clubs all season, the Penguins (16-8-0) have been even more efficient recently. Pittsburgh has totaled 16 goals during a three-game winning streak that began with a season-best seven-goal outburst at Montreal last Saturday.
Now the Penguins are likely to get another shot at Toronto goalie James Reimer, who has won his last six starts with a 2.40 goals-against average. Reimer also has a 3-0-1 record with a 2.20 GAA in four career starts in this series – including a 1-0 victory in the previous meeting in Toronto on Feb. 1, 2012.